Posted Feb. 13, 2015, 7:23 am

The remaining two residents living at Palihouse Santa Monica, formerly Embassy Hotel Apartments, are set to be evicted in May. The legality of such a process is under the spotlight after stark revelations reveal that the sudden classification of the building from multi-family residential to hotel, is dubious.

Posted Feb. 6, 2015, 8:14 am

Recent outcries from angry neighbors surrounding the now boutique hotel Palihouse at 1001 3rd Street are raising serious questions in Santa Monica. With a surge in all-night noise, street parking, and outdoor parties, how did the residentially located apartment building become a fully operational hotel in mid-2013?

Posted Jan. 23, 2015, 6:00 am

More than $40 million in subsidies are available for Inglewood residents near Los Angeles International Airport who want to soundproof their homes, city officials and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, said Thursday.

Posted Jan. 9, 2015, 9:30 am

Despite extensive neighborhood protest, a development for 10 residential units at the site of 802 Ashland Avenue, Santa Monica, got the go-ahead Monday, with the design, colors, materials and landscape plans passed by the City’s Architectural Review Board (ARB).

Posted Dec. 19, 2014, 9:36 am

With an increase in the number of complaints of tenant harassment in Santa Monica regarding the strong-arm tactics of landlords hoping to get more money from their properties by ousting occupants, Santa Monica City Council passed two motions Tuesday night to increase renters’ rights in affordable housing units.

Posted Nov. 7, 2014, 6:00 am

Santa Monica voters passed Measure FS on Tuesday night that will now give the Rent Control Board the chance to discuss and potentially increase the City’s Rent Control registration fee up to a maximum of $288 per unit annually of which a landlord can pass down 50 percent to renters.

Posted Nov. 5, 2014, 9:42 am

Santa Monica voters passed Measure FS on Tuesday night that will now give the Rent Control Board the chance to discuss and possibly increase the City's Rent Control registration fee up to $288 per unit annually of which a landlord can pass down 50 percent to renters.

Posted Sep. 19, 2014, 7:22 am

The Eames House was awarded a $100,000 architecture conservation grant by The Getty Foundation, as part of a new effort announced on Thursday by the arts philanthropy group to preserve 20th century buildings around the world.

Posted Aug. 8, 2014, 9:15 am

Los Angeles generally considers itself an influential civic leader in crafting policies that set the standard for similar laws to be emulated elsewhere. Sometimes, the influential policy making actually occurs a few miles to the west in Santa Monica. This week, the Los Angeles Public Safety Committee is weighing in on a motion to regulate “party houses” in the same vein as how Santa Monica regulated the “House of Rock.”

Posted Aug. 2, 2014, 9:32 am

Nine years in the making, the grand opening for Belmar Apartments in Santa Monica was held Thursday.
The affordable housing development located at 1725 Ocean Avenue includes 160 new apartments that are now home to a diversity of households.

Posted Jul. 21, 2014, 9:23 am

Ocean Avenue South, a 3.7-acre site a block away from the Pacific Ocean, contributes two luxury residential properties to a block of coastal apartments and condominiums: The Waverly and The Seychelle, with the former finally having opened its doors to tenants last month after years in the making.

Posted Jul. 18, 2014, 9:24 am

Be prepared to take an encyclopedia with you to the ballot box this November. No, Wikipedia will not help you sift through the smorgasbord of issues and candidates Santa Monica voters will have to decide upon in this year’s general election, as yet another initiative is approved for the November ballot. The issue: funding for affordable housing.

Posted Jul. 16, 2014, 9:14 am

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to vote last Tuesday on a tax-exempt mortgage worth $8 million to finance the acquisition of 41-unit multifamily rental housing development in Santa Monica. However, Santa Monica will have to wait until July 22 to find out what happens, as the supervisors tabled the agenda item for two weeks.

Posted Jun. 12, 2014, 8:25 am

If you are considering renovating your condo – and there seems to be an increasing trend for such owners to do so – be prepared. Not surprisingly, there are a lot more restrictions and regulations involved than with a single-family home renovation.

Posted Jun. 11, 2014, 2:50 pm

Dear Editor, This just happened to my assistant in Santa Monica: My assistant has lived in her Santa Monica rent control apartment since the early 80’s. She was a renter during the era of TORCA conversions and because she could not afford to convert her one bedroom apartment into a condo, she has remained there as a tenant ever since.